Flippers are commonly used to provide extra kicking power for the wearer when swimming and, as such, are widely used in water sports such as skin diving and bodysurfing.
An important factor in successful bodysurfing or bodyboarding is the ability, when riding a hollow wave, to maintain traction on the wave wall and allow the surfer to maintain his position in the critical section of the wave. The critical section of wave being that area of the wave which propels the surfer forward without the wave "breaking" on top of him or allowing him to be thrown out of the curl of the wave. The power and control provided by flippers as extensions of the feet enable the bodysurfer to control accurately his position in relation to the wave and thus stay within this critical section.
Known flippers are usually substantially flat rubber flaps which extend from a shoe portion and thus magnify the kicking effect of the wearer by increasing the area of water displaced by each kick of the feet. However it has been found this effect is somewhat reduced by the escape of displaced water over each side of the flipper surface both during upward and downward movement thereof. Furthermore, the control of direction necessary in bodysurfing applications is reduced by only four control "edges" being provided on each flipper.
It is an object of the present invention to increase the efficiency of known flippers by reducing water displacement losses and to give improved control by providing a larger number of control surfaces or "edges" to each flipper.